45. Forty-Five

Arms encircled my waist. Warm, secure, and hot breaths hit my ear.

For several seconds, I debated releasing the neck that supplied me with my fill. The sweet liquid hit my tongue and slid down my throat, and I heard a moan.

“How does that get me hard every time?”

Pulling back, it all came back to me in waves.

We were captured. Damian attacked me, the tether… and Atreyis. He came for me.

Blinking through my bloodlust, I noted the shambles the room was in, Damian’s corpse sprawled feet away from us. “He’s dead,” I whispered.

Atreyis caressed the dip in my back, nodding. “You killed him, baby. He’s gone.”

Damian was indeed gone. Dead at my feet. I didn”t feel weak for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I felt solid and safe. I knew most of that was due to Atreyis, but the weightless feeling of relief rushed through me regardless.

“You—how did you?” Flashes of him wielding unbelievable strength pierced my memories.

He offered a sly grin. “Do you want the long story or the short?”

“Considering where we are, the short should suffice.”

Pressing his forehead to mine, he closed his eyes. As if he was savoring me—us. “The gods finally listened to me.”

I should have asked questions. I should have been disturbed by the carnage I’d committed, but all I could focus on was the short distance to his lips. The feel of his chest against mine. The way his hands touched me.

My heart skipped and rattled around my ribcage because he never doubted me. I kissed him, watching the twitching of his eyebrows, the pinched corners of his eyes, and the soft moan he made.

This could have gone so differently. We could have never been able to do this again.

He pulled away slightly and whispered, “I want to say it, Vastian. It’s there, hovering on my tongue.”

Cupping his face, I shook mine. “I know. I know with every touch. Every look. My love, I know.”

Kissing me once more, he reached up and held my hands. “We need to go before anyone knows what we’ve done.”

I nodded, kissing his forehead.

Atreyis destroyed Damian’s home. He killed everyone in his path, as it would turn out, just to reach me.

How was it possible to love him even more because of it?

It was morbid, but with every still body we passed, I wanted to drop to my knees and worship him. He held my hand proudly, without hesitation, surging confidence through my very marrow. When we walked through the front doors of Damian’s estate, the rain had stopped, leaving only the crisp smell of mud and the ocean.

“What do you mean the gods listened?” I asked him as we headed toward the bridge in view.

It was a distance out, so anyone patrolling the area wouldn’t see us just yet. “When he took you,” he sighed and continued, “I have never felt more helpless. I’d silently demanded the gods to help you, to do something. After I threw a tantrum for hours, one finally showed up. With a black rose. They told me to eat it.” He scowled, feigning a gag. ”That was so gross. I definitely do not recommend it.”

I smiled despite his obvious suffering. My poor mortal. “What did it do?”

“Made me strong as fuck.” He grinned, flexing his arm. Shaking my head and fighting the urge to pinch his rear, he continued, “But only for two days! What kind of shit is that?”

“They like to think of themselves as helpful, merciful even, but they are nothing except inconvenient.”

“Tell me about it,” he drolled.

“Even after we cross this bridge, we will still be within the border. More will be stationed on the other side and the lower covens.”

He stopped walking and gave me a look that only Atreyis could achieve—the epitome of wild, mischievous promise. Pulling me to him, he cupped my rear, hoisted me up, and held me. I braced my hands on his shoulders.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he mumbled, licking his lip.

I leaned in, circling his neck with my fingers, and captured his lips. We were both fools for standing there in the open like that. But for the first time in centuries, I felt indestructible. Like nothing and no one could touch me.

When he started walking and slapped a cheek, I laughed. The weightlessness I felt had nothing to do with him holding me—although I enjoyed it thoroughly. It dawned on me that Atreyis had given me more than love, more than a companion. He had given me my strength back—not in the form of attachment or a relationship. It was mine—strength that I’d forgotten was possible.

“Thank you.”

He cocked a brow. “For what?”

“Everything.”

“Don’t start the waterworks now; you’ll ruin the moment.” He brushed his lips over my jaw and then my neck.

“I’ll ruin it whenever I want.”

“Oh really? Feeling feisty, are we?”

“Gods, you have no idea.”

Atreyis averted our course and was on his knees. He didn’t give me much more of a warning before he pulled out my cock and wrapped his lips around it.

My nails clawed into the bark of the tree he pressed me against, and his hands ran up and down my thighs. We shouldn’t be doing this—not there. But I couldn’t stop him—no, I didn’t want to.

His hot tongue ran up and down my length, erasing any foul memories that generally would have lingered. His moans vibrated down my shaft, and I gripped his hair. He was so filthy, covered in blood, and who knows what else, but I didn’t care.

My hips moved on their own volition, thrusting deeper into his mouth. Perhaps it was the fact we could be caught at any moment that made my release closer. But the more I watched him, the way he loved every second and sucked me better than anyone ever had, I knew differently.

Before him, I thought I could only come after achieving two things. Providing my partner his, and then with my fangs buried into them. With Atreyis, he was determined to prove that I needed neither.

“Gods,” I moaned, unable to fight it off for much longer.

“Come for me, baby,” he said before taking me as deep as he could.

“Fuck.”

He hummed around me, reaching up and squeezing my balls, and I burst.

Stars clouded my vision as he took all of me—as if he’d never get enough. I couldn’t breathe. His cheeks hollowed, and his tongue lapped up every last drop of my release. He”d even dipped it into my slit to seek out more. After I couldn”t articulate thought, he released my spent cock, and I sagged against the tree, stroking his face as he popped me from his lips.

“So fucking gorgeous,” he said, wiping his mouth.

I love you.The thought came, but I didn’t voice it. He knew. And until he was ready to hear it openly, to say it willingly, I did the next best thing. I pulled him into my arms, holding him close.

Everything was uncertain for us, and despite Damian’s death, there were still threats lurking. Waiting.

That didn”t mean I wasn”t going to pleasure him before we dealt with it all.

Nibbling his bottom lip, I whispered, “Your turn.”